Five of the Best Kitchen Splashback Inspirations

Kitchen splashbacks are always an area of great interest in interior design projects – there’s so much choice and so many possibilities!

Here are examples of five of the best – mainly from our interiors projects in London and beyond, and I hope they give you some inspiration if you’re looking for a splashback for your kitchen design project.

Backpainted glass

Backpainted glass is a great option. It’s a sleek look and is practical and easy to clean. It can also be a way of introducing another colour into a kitchen scheme, like we did here in this modern interior design project in Cambridgeshire. And it was an authentic period colour from the decade when the house was built, of course!

It’s not just any glass splashback of course – this is huge, and pushing the limit of the material as far as we could to create this amazing kitchen. The interior is exposed blockwork so a single piece of material across the back of the kitchen is a perfect counterpoint. And then in the centre is the unique Elica extractor, also in glass.

Stone tiles

That’s not the only time we’ve used that Elica extractor. In the design of this interior in London it was used for the opposite effect, fitted over this stunning Quarzitic Silver Slate. A white extractor to stand out, but also using the glass finish to highlight the texture of this unusual backdrop to great effect. Here the splashback is taken all the way up from the worktop to the ceiling as a feature wall finish:

An impregnating sealant on the slate means that it doesn’t pick up marks from the worktop below. A striking design for the kitchen of this contemporary Central London apartment.

Slab stone

Another way of using stone in kitchen design is to use slabs, where the character of the entire slab of stone becomes the feature. In this interior Calcatta Oro is a striking splashback design:

Tiles

A simple, neutral tile is the ideal combination with the coloured kitchen cabinetry. It works perfectly not just above the worktop, but also in the opening around the range oven, fitted into the old chimney breast of this London townhouse.

No splashback!

And finally, well no splashback at all! Sometimes it’s not necessary to have one. In these examples a stone upstand protects the wall and makes cleaning easy and for the most part that’s all there is. It allows a simpler or more traditional look to the overall space. This first example is from a refurbishment of a Grade I listed property at Albany on Piccadilly in London, using Labrador Antique granite with a more traditional interior and cabinetry design befitting this unusual property in Central London. It was also featured in KBB Magazine.

A similar treatment is used in this London townhouse in Dulwich. The look in this design scheme is crisp and simple, with as many finishes as possible in white. Missing the splashback keeps the simple look, and there’s only protection where it’s needed behind the hob. That’s backpainted glass in the same colour was the wall finish, so it’s there but you can hardly see it:

Coming soon…

I’ll soon have some other splashback designs to show you, from projects that are currently on site as well as in the design phase. We’re putting the finishing touches to an apartment in London’s South Kensington / Knightsbridge neighbourhood, using coloured cement tiles for the splashback. It’s a striking design and I will be able to share it with you soon. On London’s Barbican Estate in the City of London we’re refurbishing an apartment in Shakespeare Tower, and the kitchen will use backpainted glass in white – this time to create a highlight within deeper-coloured cabinetry.

And finally in two apartments on the River Thames in London we’re considering metallic fabric interlayered in glass, as well as acid-washed bronze mirror – both of which will bring a luxurious but elegant effect to the interior design schemes. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the samples: